Below Me Review

Released: 2008Genre: Grindcore / Deathmetal / ExperimentalLabel: Uprising RecordsNumber Of Tracks: 15
This album really is just typical grindcore and honestly, they're not doing anything I haven't heard before, but that doesn't mean it's not a good album.

Below Me
Reviewed by:
uninsane_guitar, on october 26, 2010 0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Sound: I got this CD from my friend because he saw that I loved bands like Dillinger Escape Plan, Heavy Heavy Low Low, and The Number 12 Looks Like You. First of all, this band sounds more like HHLL than DEP and #12, but their spazziness and the randomness of this album I can see why he would compare Dr.Acula to them. I must say that this album is very fun to listen to. I like their hardcore sound, and at times they almost sound like grindcore. Don't expect any long songs from these guys, as the longest song on the album is the last one, Calling All Creeps at just under 4 minutes long. If you're looking for breakdowns, humorous lyrics, sometimes yelled sometimes pig squealed and cookie monster growled vocals, and bat shit crazy guitar riffs, then this album is definately for you. // 8

Lyrics: If you wanted deep, introspective lyrics from this band, I'm sorry, but you're in the wrong genre man. Most of the lyrics are about drinking and partying and everything that comes with it, which sounds like a lotta fun! Most of the songs didn't have lyrics that I could find, so you'll have to do your own searching. A lot of the song titles are taken from Goosebumps books (Beast From the East, Shocker On Shock Street, Say Cheese and Die!)
01. Beer Pong Massacre-(2:17) An eerie synth opens along with a guitar riff that sounds like it would belong in a Motley Crue song, then PSYCHE! In come the death metal vocals. Then it becomes nu-metal, with the vocalist rapping "Aye, yo, lemme get a re-rack cause your shits wack bounce shot, 2 cups, bring that shit back 10 cups of glory 1 cup of sink, put that ball up, make that bitch drink." All in all, it's typical grindcore. 7/10
02. Why I'm Afraid of Bees-(1:17) It opens with a dissonant guitar riff, then fast nonsensical chugging, and it wraps up with a breakdown. Some yelled lyrics contrast with the cookie monster growling that is rampant on this record. Some cool tremelo picked riff wraps up the song.
03. Night Of the Living Dummy-(1:27) This song opens with some crazy computer noises and dissonant guitars, then plays what sounds like a f--ked up carnival ride riff that creeps me out lol. It also has a movie quote before the breakdown that says "I know it sounds harsh, but God does not want her to live." 7/10
04. Go Eat Worms: a lot of these songs just blend together. If you like super short and fast grindcore, this song is definately a prime example of it. There is some nice guitar work on this song, showing that they are definately not amateurs. The latter half of the song has the vocalist almost singing, and it invokes some hardcore or metalcore bands. Then it ends with some pig squeals. 6/10
05. You Can't Scare Me-(3:02)"ROFL please send noodz." That is all I have to say about this song lol. Jk, there's some decent guitar work on this song, with some harmonies and a really cool bass solo. (Yeah, a BASS SOLO!) One of my faves on this album. 8/10
06. Say Cheese and Die-(1:51) This song opens with my favorite part of Little Nicky "I command you in the name of Lucifer to spread the blood of the innocent! Oh My God!" So for that it gets bonus points lol. It also includes clips from Aliens ("The emergency self destruct system is now activating") and my favorite movie of all time, Goodfellas. ("As far back as I can remember, I've always wanted to be a gangster.") This song is about burning a city down because people are acting like sluts and being lustful. OOOOOKAYYYY......8/10
07. Shocker On Shock Street:(1:43) Best song on this album! This song's lyrics are making fun of people at shows and all the labels people try to fall under. (f--k all your tough guy bullshit, f--k your ego f--k your scene!) It also has somedownright pig squeals after he says "Now let me see you f--king dance!" Great song! 10/10
08. Piano Lessons Can Be Murder-(1:53) "I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass and I'm all outta bubblegum." Duke Nukem FTW! This song has the most synth usage in it, and right before the breakdown you hear someone saying "Alright everybody, come on out on the dance floor!" And it also includes a Terminator quote. (You just can't go around killing people! Why?) This song is pretty cool, one of the more creative ones. 9/10
09. Say Cheese and Die Again-(2:26) First of all, their bass player has a really nice sound. The guitars also sound heavy. It features a sick sounding synth halfway through and then gets into it. This whole album sounds like it would be fun to mosh too. The ADHD nature of the guitar players is also very entertaining to listen too. 7/10
10. Monster Blood-(1:54) Starting off with a fun guitar riff, it then goes into grindcore mania! Seriously, it doesn't get much more grind than this. 6/10
11. The Cuckoo Clock of Doom-(1:57) Ok song, cool sounding guitars, and a Dane Cook quote. (Are you out of your f--king mind?) Seriously, I think their guitar players are on some good acid, because there is some awesome riffage going on here, including a bluesy outro that is harmonized. 6/10
12. How I Got My Shrunken Head-(2:13) This has some 80's rock sounding guitars at first, until it gets into the grindcoreness. Cool sound. 7/10
13. Party-(1:04) Shortest song on the album. "This is how we party, so f--k you! I raise my drink in the air cuz I'm way too drunk to care!" I love these lyrics lol. This music is definately music to party and get drunk as f--k too! 8/10
14. Beast From the East-(2:17) The opening of this song is my favorite. The spazz guitars mixing it with a sick sounding synth lead and even a little bass break. Then the vocalist yelling the vocals in his obnoxious almost mocking sounding tone. There are a lot of almost bluesy sounding riffs, so these guitarists must worship the pentatonic scale. They also must like making ungodly crazy noises coming from their instruments. At one point in this song there is what sounds like a whammy pedal being used or a crazy synth sound. Whatever it is, it's crazy high and it makes me happy! One of my faves. 9/10
15. Calling All Creeps-(3:56) This song opens like a classic rock song from the 70's or 80's even. I guess these guys appreciate their forefathers...NOT!!! In comes the dissonant riffage and absolutely nuts sounding synths. As the longest song on this album, it includes the most experimentation with something other than the dirty channel on their guitars. A clean section is very refreshing to hear, with free form jazz guitar playing over the vocalist's trademark spoken word sound. Then, they channel symphonic death metal with a very eerie synth playing in the background of the most metal riff they have on the album. This is my number 2 favorite on the album, as it is the heaviest one. 10/10 // 8

Overall Impression: Overall, this album really is just typical grindcore and honestly, they're not doing anything I haven't heard before, but that doesn't mean it's not a good album. It really is fun and entertaining to listen too, and I hear they're signed to Victory Records now, so a new album is on the way and I can't wait to hear it! What I love about it is the spazz/grind sound, I love bands that sound like that. What I hate is that most of the songs kinda sound the same and there really isn't the experimentation that is evident in bands that are similar to them such as TN12LLY and DEP. If it were lost or stolen, it's on my iPod so that means my iPod is lost or stolen, so somebody's gonna die if they stole it! I would buy this album again since I downloaded it for free from my friend who did buy it, or just download it from him again lol. // 7